History

To make things clear, Minato has died once before. A little more than a month after the fight against the Nyx Avatar and Nyx itself, to be precise. To be even more precise, he died on Graduation Day of Gekkoukan High School's senior class of 2010, while resting his head in the lap of Aigis, a fellow S.E.E.S. member and anti-Shadow robot, with a smile on his face, the last smile that S.E.E.S. would see for some time.

Minato's parents died when he was young, and he was sent to stay with relatives out of the city. Ten years later, Minato returned to Iwatodai and enrolled at Gekkoukan High School, intending to finish his last two school years there. He arrived to the city late at night the day before the first day of school, and soon after he arrived, midnight struck, and, unknown to Minato, the city became enveloped by the Dark Hour.

Ignoring the loss of all electricity, even to his own cell phone and MP3 player, Minato set off to the dorm he was to stay at until there was room for him at the regular boy's dorm. The walk took him nearly an hour under the green glow of the near-full moon.

Once he reached the dorm building, he met with a young boy, dressed in what seemed to be a pair of black and white striped pajamas, who handed him a contract to sign, saying only that it was so that he knew that he'd be held accountable for his actions.

After signing the contract, the boy disappeared into the darkness, leaving Minato only a confusing statement. Seconds later, footsteps echoed through the silent common room, and a girl appeared, demanding to know who he was. Minato, shocked by the girl's sudden appearance, stood silently. The girl, panting heavily, reached down to a holster strapped to her leg, and pulled out a silver pistol.

Before anything further happened, another voice rang out from the silence, demanding that the girl stop. A second girl entered the room and stood behind the first, followed by the electricity turning back on and bathing the room in light. The first girl smiled, feeling reassured, and re-holstered her weapon.

The first girl was Yukari Takeba, high school junior, and the second was Mitsuru Kirijo, a senior at the same high school. After introductions, Yukari led Minato to the room he would be staying in. Once they reached his room, Minato asked about the boy and the contract, but Yukari didn't seem to know anything about either of them.

Days passed, and Minato made friends at his new school. One in particular, Junpei Iori, stood out as a class clown, and welcomed him to the school, knowing what it was like to be the new kid. Minato also met with Shuji Ikutsuki, the chairman of the dorm and a teller of horrible jokes.

On the night of the second day since his move, the Dark Hour enveloped the city once again. Shortly after the Dark Hour began, Mitsuru, Yukari, and Ikutsuki were monitoring Minato as he slept, noting how he didn't Transmogrify into a coffin as most people did during the Dark Hour, and Ikutsuki brought up the fact that the young boy might have the potential to summon a Persona.

Just after this thought escaped his mouth, Akihiko Sanada, another Persona user living in the dorms, contacted Mitsuru to inform her of a massive Shadow that had begun chasing him. With heavy injuries, he reported that he was returning to the dorms. Mitsuru turned to Yukari and told her to take Minato and evacuate.

Yukari woke Minato and, without explaining anything to him, told him that they needed to get out of the building. Minato nodded and followed her to the main floor, where they received a transmission from Mitsuru, telling them that the Shadow that she and Akihiko were fighting wasn't the one that Akihiko had told them about. A sudden banging against the back door resulted in a shriek of surprise from Yukari. Panicking, she led him back to the stairs, and up to the roof, where she locked the door behind them.

She handed him a sword, telling him that the two of them might have to defend themselves. True to those words, a group of Mayas, the most common form of Shadows that look like blobs of darkness with several hands, and one hand that holds up it's mask-shaped head, climbed to the top of the building.

Taken by surprise, Yukari fell to the ground with her back against the door leading back into the building, and began fumbling with the silver pistol he had seen during their first meeting. Rather than point it at the monsters, though, she points it at her own head.

-TBC-

Powers and Abilities

While probably stronger than the average high school student, Minato's main strength comes from his ability to summon Personae, beings of incredible strength that reside in a person's mind.

His first, and main, Persona is Orpheus of the Fool Arcana. While weak against lightning, Personae associated with the Fool Arcana have an unlimited potential to become stronger.

Summoning a Persona has two situations that must be met:

- The Persona must be awakened. Not everybody has the potential to summon a Persona, and only those who have had theirs awakened, either naturally or forced, can wield their powers.

- To summon a Persona, an immense amount of emotional stress must be forced on the person. To this end, members of S.E.E.S. use a gun-shaped item called an Evoker, pressing the barrel of it against their head and pulling the trigger.

Orpheus

In battle, Orpheus can wield fire magic, such as the spell Agi, as well as use his massive harp as a bludgeoning weapon.

Equipment

The human members of S.E.E.S. wear their Gekkoukan uniforms, reinforced to add protection against their fights with the Shadows.

Minato wields a short sword, his preferred weapon in fights during the Dark Hour.